The Grizzlies’ front office stepped up over the summer signing 24-year old small forward Rudy Gay to a max deal. Now it’s Gay’s turn to repay the Grizzlies’ faith in him. Gay played in 80 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has now played in 318 games (282 starts) in his four years with the Grizzlies and he has averaged 35.3 minutes, 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. I look for Gay to step up and be even better than he was in 2009-10 this year.

25-year old Sam Young will be Gay’s backup this year once again. Young played in 80 games (1 start) as a rookie for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The Grizzlies hope that Young keeps up the good work in 2010-11 as he had a solid rookie year.

30-year old Damien Wilkins might get some P.T. here if he makes the team. Wilkins played in 80 games (31 starts) for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 19.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He has now played in 390 games (126 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 20.9 minutes, 7.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.